As is often the case in science, you may not know the name of the Dr.
Antonín Holý even if your life depends on it. The work of the acclaimed
Czech chemist has extended or improved the lives of millions suffering
from
HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and many other viral diseases. His theoretical work
on the genetic code in the 1960s preceded any practical application by
decades. And his meticulous and principled approach to scientific
processes, and more than 400 discoveries, made him a role model for many
and one of the most outstanding modern Czech scientists. The 75-year-old
Dr
Holý died on Monday after a prolonged illness, just two months after the
US Food and Drugs Administration approved a major new drug combination,
Truvada, for the treatment of HIV. Earlier today, Radio Prague spoke with
the former chairman of the Czech Academy of Sciences and biochemist
Václav
Pačes, who first met Antonín Holý in 1965.

Antonín Holý, photo: ČTK
“First of all, he was an exceptionally hard-working scientist. He
devoted
100% of his time to chemistry, that’s one thing. But at the same time,
he
was lucky to find good collaborators. His prime collaborator was Professor
Erik De Clercq from Belgium, who had very good tests for testing various
kinds of chemical compounds in biological activities. They began
collaborating, with Antonín Holý synthesizing compounds and Erik De
Clercq testing them for various kinds of biological activities, namely
viral activities, and through this ping-pong system they eventually found
these unique compounds that had effects on viruses. And they patented
this.

Erik De Clercq
“They wanted to get it to the patients of course, but as you know, it
costs a tremendous amount of money to get a compound drug to patients. So
they got together with Dr. Michael Riordan, who had founded the company
Gilead
Sciences in California, and these three then started to - slowly but very
efficiently – push all these compounds on to the market. And today, they
are saving the lives of millions of people.

Aside from being a hard worker who, as you said, devoted himself
wholly to
science, what kind of a man was he?

Antonín Holý, photo: ISIFA/ Lidové noviny
“He was ambitious, of course. When he had some results he wanted to be
credited for them, which I think is human nature and the nature of
scientists in particular. He was very modest. Particularly in that he
never, ever went to the public with his results before they had been
peer-reviewed in the editorial boards of journals and so-forth. Sometimes
scientists go to the public before they are 100% sure of their results,
which is not good. And I think Antonín Holý was an example of someone
who
never did this. He only went to the public after his results were
confirmed
and published and peer reviewed. I think it is another important
characteristic of Antonín Holý.”